I’ve learned so much from being on this site for only a short period of time. I wish I would have came across it before I started TRT 2 months ago. After reading alot of the post in this forum and talking to some great people here I decided to call my Endos office and get some copies of my bloodwork. Here is what I just got. My test were done by Quest Diagnostics
Vitamin D 25-OH Total 25 Range 20-100 ng/ml
TSH, 3rd Generation 0.58 Range 0.40-4.50
IGF-I 183 Range 126-382
Testosterone
Testosterone, Total 400 Range 250-1100 ng/dl
Testosterone, Free 48.4 Range 46.0-224
Testosterone, Bioavalable 101.6 Range 110-575.0 ng/dl
SHBG 36 Range 8-48
Albumin 4.6 Range 3.6-5.1 g/dl
Cortisol 16.4 Range 3.0-17.0
The one thing that I’m a littke dissapointed in is that my Doc did not draw an Estradiol level on me. That is where I think my problem is, I’m having symptoms that I now know are associated with my E2 level such as Fluid retention in my chest causing me to have man boobs at diffrent times of the day as well as in my abdomin causing me to look like im pregnant at times. These two things alone can be very tough to deal with when you are a naturally thin framed guy. I also have an itchy feelinhg in my nipples from time to time as well. Could my high Estrogen been the root to my problems the whole time causing my free Test to drop as well as my Vitamin D count? I go back in to my Endo on Monday for my 2 month follow up. This time I will be ready to ask more questions.
P.S The therepy my endo has had me on for the last 2 months is 1 200mg shot of Test cyp a week. NO AI and NO HCG
Your symptoms could certainly be caused by high E2, especially the itchy nipples. Best to get that corrected before you get a nasty case of gyno. If your doc won’t prescribe Arimidex, you can find liquid anastrozole online from research pharm companies–though thats a legal gray area so best to get it the legit way if your doc will play ball.
High E2 can cause the low free T, but I’m not sure about the low Vit D. I’m no expert but I haven’t read anything suggesting low Vit D can be caused by high E2. If anything, I would think the converse would be true (low Vit D affects other hormones, and subsequently raises your E2).
Try to self-inject if you can, 2-3 times a week for more stable test levels. You may be able to drop your weekly equivalent dosage if injecting more frequently, which will help regulate E2.
Take Vit D, lots of it–your levels are very low. Somewhere from 6-10 thousand iu’s per day.
Cortisol high and TSH low, though I don’t know a lot about those numbers, they should certainly be looked at more closely.
[quote]kzorn wrote:
I’ve learned so much from being on this site for only a short period of time. I wish I would have came across it before I started TRT 2 months ago. After reading alot of the post in this forum and talking to some great people here I decided to call my Endos office and get some copies of my bloodwork. Here is what I just got. My test were done by Quest Diagnostics
Vitamin D 25-OH Total 25 Range 20-100 ng/ml
TSH, 3rd Generation 0.58 Range 0.40-4.50
IGF-I 183 Range 126-382
Testosterone
Testosterone, Total 400 Range 250-1100 ng/dl
Testosterone, Free 48.4 Range 46.0-224
Testosterone, Bioavalable 101.6 Range 110-575.0 ng/dl
SHBG 36 Range 8-48
Albumin 4.6 Range 3.6-5.1 g/dl
Cortisol 16.4 Range 3.0-17.0
The one thing that I’m a littke dissapointed in is that my Doc did not draw an Estradiol level on me. That is where I think my problem is, I’m having symptoms that I now know are associated with my E2 level such as Fluid retention in my chest causing me to have man boobs at diffrent times of the day as well as in my abdomin causing me to look like im pregnant at times. These two things alone can be very tough to deal with when you are a naturally thin framed guy. I also have an itchy feelinhg in my nipples from time to time as well. Could my high Estrogen been the root to my problems the whole time causing my free Test to drop as well as my Vitamin D count? I go back in to my Endo on Monday for my 2 month follow up. This time I will be ready to ask more questions. Your SHBG is high and T levels need to be higher to off set for this. I need more clincal data to see exactly what is going on because these test tell me about 20% of the equation.
P.S The therepy my endo has had me on for the last 2 months is 1 200mg shot of Test cyp a week. NO AI and NO HCG[/quote]
Endo like most of them are idiots and one does not need that high of T dosage. You are just going to convert it to DHT and e2 which is going to add more stress to your already fried adrenals and thyroid. Your vitamin D is really low which needs to be addressed. Properly manipulating TRT will help reduce the need or dosage of adex. Once you get the body properly tuned up alot of guys do not need adex at all. It does take a little time and patients but in the end it is well worth not screwing around with it at all because it can become a huge pain in the ass because it can fluctuate so much.
Thanks alot for the responses Hardasnails and VTBalla…
I guess the thing that Im still really confused about after reading through all these post is which of these low or high levels causes the other. Is it the Low Vitatmin D that causes the Low Test and High Estro, or is it the High Cortisol that creates the Low Test, etc. It just seems like there no end in sight as far as getting all my levels normal. I go in tomm morning and I have alot of questions to ask. I really want to cut my dosage back and split my injections after what I’ve been told by all you guys here. I guess the only positive is that I do feel a little better since I started the TRT, Im not as tired and my girls been alot happier. So I guess if everytime I go and get a new answer and feel a little better then its worth the trip. If I can just figure out away to kick this water weight in my chest and get rid of the bloat then I’d feel alot better about the treatment so far
In terms of your last injection, when were these bloods taken? These levels almost look like pre-TRT; definitely not after 2 months of 200mg/wk of test-cyp! You need more recent bloodwork. Get your blood work done half way between shots; I.e, if shot is on Mon, go Thursday. Also, I’m addition, get BW done the day of your next shot to get a proper “trough” reading. If your endo says “no”, you can get it done yourself by PrivateLabsMD for 50 bucks. Just go to a LabCorp and you’ll have it the next day! I use the female hormone panel since it includes TT, CBC, estradiol, lh/fsh…however no FT :(. You really only need FT, TT, and estradiol. I have a question-your TSH is fairly low…have you ever done an extensive panel of your thyroid??(FT4, FT3) Sorry, you will see on my other posts that I harp on this a lot. I wonder if you may have an above-average active thyroid? Your skinny body, low TSH, low FT, and higher SHBG all point to very mild hyperthyroidism.
[quote]kzorn wrote:
I’ve learned so much from being on this site for only a short period of time. I wish I would have came across it before I started TRT 2 months ago. After reading alot of the post in this forum and talking to some great people here I decided to call my Endos office and get some copies of my bloodwork. Here is what I just got. My test were done by Quest Diagnostics
Vitamin D 25-OH Total 25 Range 20-100 ng/ml
TSH, 3rd Generation 0.58 Range 0.40-4.50
IGF-I 183 Range 126-382
Testosterone
Testosterone, Total 400 Range 250-1100 ng/dl
Testosterone, Free 48.4 Range 46.0-224
Testosterone, Bioavalable 101.6 Range 110-575.0 ng/dl
SHBG 36 Range 8-48
Albumin 4.6 Range 3.6-5.1 g/dl
Cortisol 16.4 Range 3.0-17.0
The one thing that I’m a littke dissapointed in is that my Doc did not draw an Estradiol level on me. That is where I think my problem is, I’m having symptoms that I now know are associated with my E2 level such as Fluid retention in my chest causing me to have man boobs at diffrent times of the day as well as in my abdomin causing me to look like im pregnant at times. These two things alone can be very tough to deal with when you are a naturally thin framed guy. I also have an itchy feelinhg in my nipples from time to time as well. Could my high Estrogen been the root to my problems the whole time causing my free Test to drop as well as my Vitamin D count? I go back in to my Endo on Monday for my 2 month follow up. This time I will be ready to ask more questions.
P.S The therepy my endo has had me on for the last 2 months is 1 200mg shot of Test cyp a week. NO AI and NO HCG[/quote]
In terms of your last injection, when were these bloods taken? These levels almost look like pre-TRT; definitely not after 2 months of 200mg/wk of test-cyp! You need more recent bloodwork. Get your blood work done half way between shots; I.e, if shot is on Mon, go Thursday. Also, I’m addition, get BW done the day of your next shot to get a proper “trough” reading. If your endo says “no”, you can get it done yourself by PrivateLabsMD for 50 bucks. Just go to a LabCorp and you’ll have it the next day! I use the female hormone panel since it includes TT, CBC, estradiol, lh/fsh…however no FT :(. You really only need FT, TT, and estradiol. I have a question-your TSH is fairly low…have you ever done an extensive panel of your thyroid??(FT4, FT3) Sorry, you will see on my other posts that I harp on this a lot. I wonder if you may have an above-average active thyroid? Your skinny body, low TSH, low FT, and higher SHBG all point to very mild hyperthyroidism.
[quote]kzorn wrote:
I’ve learned so much from being on this site for only a short period of time. I wish I would have came across it before I started TRT 2 months ago. After reading alot of the post in this forum and talking to some great people here I decided to call my Endos office and get some copies of my bloodwork. Here is what I just got. My test were done by Quest Diagnostics
Vitamin D 25-OH Total 25 Range 20-100 ng/ml
TSH, 3rd Generation 0.58 Range 0.40-4.50
IGF-I 183 Range 126-382
Testosterone
Testosterone, Total 400 Range 250-1100 ng/dl
Testosterone, Free 48.4 Range 46.0-224
Testosterone, Bioavalable 101.6 Range 110-575.0 ng/dl
SHBG 36 Range 8-48
Albumin 4.6 Range 3.6-5.1 g/dl
Cortisol 16.4 Range 3.0-17.0
The one thing that I’m a littke dissapointed in is that my Doc did not draw an Estradiol level on me. That is where I think my problem is, I’m having symptoms that I now know are associated with my E2 level such as Fluid retention in my chest causing me to have man boobs at diffrent times of the day as well as in my abdomin causing me to look like im pregnant at times. These two things alone can be very tough to deal with when you are a naturally thin framed guy. I also have an itchy feelinhg in my nipples from time to time as well. Could my high Estrogen been the root to my problems the whole time causing my free Test to drop as well as my Vitamin D count? I go back in to my Endo on Monday for my 2 month follow up. This time I will be ready to ask more questions.
P.S The therepy my endo has had me on for the last 2 months is 1 200mg shot of Test cyp a week. NO AI and NO HCG[/quote]